Office of Racial Policy
Encyclopedia
The NSDAP Office of Racial Policy (German
: Rassenpolitisches Amt der NSDAP, R.P.A. or RPA) was a Nazi Party office created in 1933 for "unifying and supervising all indoctrination and propaganda work in the field of population and racial politics". It was originally known as the NSDAP Office for Enlightenment on Population Policy and Racial Welfare (German: Aufklärungsamt für Bevölkerungspolitik und Rassenpflege), but was renamed in 1935.
Created by decree on 17 November, 1933, its mandate stated in part that all press releases on issues of race required the approval of the Office, and that the Office dealt with all measures concerning the field of population
and racial policies
, in cooperation with the competent authorities. They were also to take part in Government legislative
measures in this field. In its first year, it published fourteen pamphlets for racial education.
Its head was Walter Gross
. His purpose was to oversee a massive propaganda effort to increase the ethnic consciousness
of the Nordic Aryan
master race
.; this was termed "enlightenment" rather than "propaganda" by the Nazi authorities, because it was "not a call for immediate action but a long-term change in attitude". Gross described the view to be underminded by people thinking of themselves as individuals rather than "single links in the great chain of life".
It produced a monthly magazine, known as Neues Volk
, aimed at the general audience rather than towards specialists. While containing articles to interest the reader, such as travel tips, its central concern was the promotion of eugenic
views and ethnic consciousness.
A ten-point marriage guideline produced by the office stressed the criteria of race and health rather than love, urging investigation of the ancestry of potential mates, and that the hereditary fit should not remain single, concluding with the injunction to hope for many children.
It also created traveling exhibitions to present the ideal type as unchanging and contrast it to defective types. An intensive course to create ethnic educators taught more than 14,000 speakers, a thousand SA men each year, and recent medical school
graduates. Pamphlets had such titles as "Can You Think Racially?" and "Peasantry between Yesterday and Today."
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Rassenpolitisches Amt der NSDAP, R.P.A. or RPA) was a Nazi Party office created in 1933 for "unifying and supervising all indoctrination and propaganda work in the field of population and racial politics". It was originally known as the NSDAP Office for Enlightenment on Population Policy and Racial Welfare (German: Aufklärungsamt für Bevölkerungspolitik und Rassenpflege), but was renamed in 1935.
Created by decree on 17 November, 1933, its mandate stated in part that all press releases on issues of race required the approval of the Office, and that the Office dealt with all measures concerning the field of population
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
and racial policies
Racialism
Racialism is an emphasis on race or racial considerations. Currently, racialism entails a belief in the existence and significance of racial categories, but not necessarily that any absolute hierarchy between the races has been demonstrated by a rigorous and comprehensive scientific process...
, in cooperation with the competent authorities. They were also to take part in Government legislative
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
measures in this field. In its first year, it published fourteen pamphlets for racial education.
Its head was Walter Gross
Walter Gross
Dr. Walter Gross was a German physician appointed to create the Office for Enlightenment on Population Policy and Racial Welfare for the NSDAP...
. His purpose was to oversee a massive propaganda effort to increase the ethnic consciousness
Supremacism
Supremacism is the belief that a particular race, species, ethnic group, religion, gender, sexual orientation, belief system or culture is superior to others and entitles those who identify with it to dominate, control or rule those who do not.- Sexual :...
of the Nordic Aryan
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
master race
Master race
Master race was a phrase and concept originating in the slave-holding Southern US. The later phrase Herrenvolk , interpreted as 'master race', was a concept in Nazi ideology in which the Nordic peoples, one of the branches of what in the late-19th and early-20th century was called the Aryan race,...
.; this was termed "enlightenment" rather than "propaganda" by the Nazi authorities, because it was "not a call for immediate action but a long-term change in attitude". Gross described the view to be underminded by people thinking of themselves as individuals rather than "single links in the great chain of life".
It produced a monthly magazine, known as Neues Volk
Neues Volk
Neues Volk was the monthly publication of the Office of Racial Policy in Nazi Germany. Founded by Walter Gross in 1933, it was a mass-market, illustrated magazine. It aimed at a wide audience, achieving a circulation of 300,000...
, aimed at the general audience rather than towards specialists. While containing articles to interest the reader, such as travel tips, its central concern was the promotion of eugenic
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
views and ethnic consciousness.
A ten-point marriage guideline produced by the office stressed the criteria of race and health rather than love, urging investigation of the ancestry of potential mates, and that the hereditary fit should not remain single, concluding with the injunction to hope for many children.
It also created traveling exhibitions to present the ideal type as unchanging and contrast it to defective types. An intensive course to create ethnic educators taught more than 14,000 speakers, a thousand SA men each year, and recent medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
graduates. Pamphlets had such titles as "Can You Think Racially?" and "Peasantry between Yesterday and Today."
External Links
- NSDAP on cine-holocaust